Enclosure for imprinter subject to weather elements

ABSTRACT

A boxlike, transparent, rigid, plastic enclosure for an imprinter supported by an outdoor cash stand at a service station having a bottom wall formed to be supported by the cash stand with an imprinter disposed on the enclosure above the cash drawer of the cash stand. One end of the enclosure adjacent to the access for the cash drawer is pivotally attached or removably attached to the top wall of the enclosure to provide easy access to the imprinter.

United States Patent Cintz 1 Feb. 29, 1972 [541 ENCLOSURE FOR IMPRINTER SUBJECT TO WEATHER ELEMENTS [72] Inventor: Adam Cintz, 1027 Alma Street, Palo Alto,

Calif. 94301 [22] Filed: Jan. 15,1971

211 Appl. No.: 106,659

[52] US. Cl. ..312/100, 150/52 R, 206/1 R,

. 206/4534, 312/229 [51] Int. Cl. ..A47b 81/00 [58] Field of Search ..D/9; 52/27; 98/1 15 R, H;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,287,495 6/1942 Moyers ..206/45 .34 3,041,957 7/1962 Liptay 98/115 Ll-l 2,631,912 3/1953 Pryor,Jr. 312/208 ux 3,087,578 4/1963 Reed et a1. ..312/208 X 2,982,593 5/1961 Chambers.... ....312/100 X 3,346,309 10/1967 Mellon ..312/102 2,822,230 2/1958 Curran ..312/100 U 2,692,808 10/1954 Marsh ..312/100 UX 3,506,114 4/1970 Holmes 150/52 R X Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Leclair Assistant ExaminerSteven E. Lipman Attorney-Jack M. Wiseman [5 7] ABSTRACT A boxlike, transparent, rigid, plastic enclosure for an im printer supported by an outdoor cash stand at a service station having a bottom wall formed to be supported by the cash stand with an imprinter disposed on the enclosure above the cash drawer of the cash stand. One end of the enclosure adjacent to the access for the cash drawer is pivotally attached or removably attached to the top wall of the enclosure to provide easy access to the imprinter.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented Feb. 29, 1972 ATTORNEY ENCLOSURE FORIMPRINTER SUBJECT TO WEATHER ELEMENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates in general to an enclosure for animprinter. and more particularly to an enclosure for animprinterdisposed on a cash stand exposed to the outdoor weather elements.

With'the advent of credit cards, the use of imprinters becamea necessity for service station attendants. Such imprinters are-generally on the top of a cash stand adjacent gasoline pumps so as to be conveniently located for the service station attendant. Consequently, the imprinters have been exposed to the elements such as rain, snow, hail,.sleet and the likeAlso, theattendantoperating the imprinter exposedthe credit. recordsto the same weather elements. This resulted in the' blurring and illegibility of the information contained in the credit records, as well asa general deterioration of the paper itself.

SUMMARY 'OF THE INVENTION A transparent enclosure for an imprinter supported by a cash stand. The enclosure includes a bottom wall adapted to be mounted on'thecash stand with the imprinter disposed on the enclosureabove the cash stand. An end wall of the enclosure :at the forward end thereof is pivotally attached or removablyattached to provide easy access to the imprinter. In addition thereto, the enclosure is dimensioned to permit an attendantto operate the imprinter.

By virtue ofthe present invention, an imprinter is protected fromweather elements and also the credit records used in conjunction with'the imprinter is not exposed to the weather elements during the imprinting process. Hence, the credit records are not blurred, rendered illegible, or caused to deteriorate.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the enclosure of the present invention mounted'on a cash stand to enclose an imprinter disposed on the cash stand.

FIG.'2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the enclosure shown in FIG. I.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, reduced in size, of theenclosureshown in FIG. I mounted on a cash stand to enclose an imprinterdisposed on the cash stand.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Illustrated in FIG. I is a conventional cash stand S located in the vicinity of gasoline pumps at a service station. The cash stand S includes a top wall W and a drawer D.

Supported by the top wall W of the cash stand S is a conventional imprinter I. According to the present inventioman enclosure (FIGS. ll vand'2) is supported by the top wall W of the cash stand S and surrounds the imprinter I to protect the same and the credit records used therewith from weather elements, such as rain, snow, sleet, hail and the like.

The enclosure 10 comprises a top wall 11 of transparent, rigid, plastic material, which top wall is parallel to the top wall W of the cash stand S and is greater in length than the length of the imprinter l.. Preferably, the dimension of the top wall II is similar to the dimension of the top wall W.

Depending from the top wall 11 is a rear end wall 12 of.

transparent, rigid, plastic material. The rear wall 12 of the enclosurelll is.at right anglesto the top wall I1 and has a-depending flange 12a suitable for engaging a rear, upright wall of the cash stand S. The rear wall 12 is of sufficient height to ena-.

ble an attendant to conveniently have access to the'imprinter l.

for operating the same.

Also, depending fromthe topwall- I] are perpendicular,

confronting sidewalls l3 and .14 of transparent, rigid, plastic material. -Upright:flanges 13a and 14a depend from the sidewalls l3 and 14, respectively, and are suitable for engag- 1 ing theconfronting sidewalls of the cash stand S. The sidewalls l3 andI4- of the enclosure 10 are of sufficient height to enable an attendant toconveniently have access to the imprinter I for operating thesame.

The enclosure 10 is formed with a bottom wall I5 having longitudinally spaced, horizontally disposed segments 15a and 15b. The segments 15a and 15b are disposed in the same plane and extend between the .sidewalls l3 and 14. The segment 15b also extends from the rear wall 12. Preferably, the bottom wall 15 is made of transparent, plastic material and rests on the top wall W of the cash 'stand'S. Hence, theenclosure I0 is.sup

ported by the top wall W of the cash stand S; The imprinter l is disposed on thebottom wall 15 of the enclosure 10.

Formed inthe segment 15a of the bottom wall 15 is a suitable opening (FIG. 2) for receiving a wingnut N. Aligned openings are formed in the imprinter l and the top wall W so that the wingnut N-can anchor the imprinter I to the enclosure I0 and, in turn, anchor the enclosure 10 to the cash stand S. It is the forward end of the imprinter I that is anchored through the wingnutN. The wingnut N is inserted into opening 150 and into the imprinter I throughthe lower surface of the top wall W of the cash stand S.

A suitable slot 15d (FIGS. 2 and 3) is formed in the bottom wall segment 15b to receive a clip C on the top wall W of the cashstand S to anchor the rear end of the imprinter he the top wall W of the cashstand S. Conventionally, a clip was secured to the-top-wall W and the imprinterl was moved onto the top wall W rearwardly so that the rear portion of the imprinterl was engaged by the clip to be-secured thereby.

A shim 20 (FIGS. 2 and 3) is now screwed to the top wall W of the cash stand S in alignment with the slot I511. The clip C is now disposed on the shim 20 and secured thereto by means of the screws fixing the shim 20 to the top wall W. The clip C projects into the slot 15d to engage the rear portion of the imprinter I for anchoring the same to the-top wall W of the cash stand S.

For providing access to the imprinter I so that an attendant can operate the imprinter I, a front end'wall 25 (FIG. 1) is removably or pivotally attached to the enclosure 10. The front end wall 25 is a transparent, flexible, plasticmaterial, and may be referred to as a flap. 'At the upper portionof the "front end wall 25 is attached a hinge 26, which may be made of a flexible material; such as vinyl, leather, or a plastic material. Eyelets 27 and 28 are secured to the hinge 26 for receiving studs 29 and 30, respectively, fixedly secured to the forward portion of the enclosure 10. The flap 25 isdisposedadjacent the drawer D of the cash stand S.

In the use of the enclosure 10 for imprinters Ipreviously installed on a cash stand S, the screw at the forward end thereof is removed and the imprinter I is moved forwardly out of engagementwith the rear -clip C on the cash stand S. The imprinter I is then removed from the top wall W of the cash stand S. The rear clipC is removed from the top wall W of the cash stand S.

Now, the shim 20 is fixed to the top wall-W at the location where the clip C was removed'and the clip C is thereupon secured toithe upper surface of the shim 20. The enclosure 10 is mounted'on the .top wall W of the cash'stand S with the flanges 12a, 13a and 14a engaging upright'wallsof the cash stand S,:and withthe forward end adjacent the cash'drawer-D (FIG. I).

The imprinter Iis thenplaced on the bottom wall I5 and is moved rearwardly so that the rear portion thereof engages the clip C projecting into the slot 15d and a forward opening aligned with the opening I50. The wingnut projecting upwardly through the top wall W projectsthrough' the opening ISc and anchors the imprinter'l on the bottom wall 15. The forward end flap 25 isoptionally. attached to the top wall 11 through the eyelets-27 and 28 and the studs 29 and 30.

I claim:

I. In combination:

a. an outdoor cash stand;-

b. an imprinter on-said cash stand; and

c. an enclosure for protecting said imprinter on said outdoor cash stand from weather elements, such as rain, snow and the like, said enclosure comprising:

a transparent top wall disposed above the imprinter a sufficient height to enable an attendant to operate the imprinter;

walls depending from said top wall to support said top wall at said sufficient height;

supporting means interconnecting said walls and said cash stand to support said enclosure on said cash stand;

a forward wall for said enclosure; and

means pivotally mounting said forward wall to enable an attendant to gain access to operate said imprinter.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said forward wall is pivotally attached to said top wall.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said forward wall is flexible along the upper portion thereof for pivotal attachment to said top wall.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein means interconnect said top wall and said forward wall for removably attaching said forward wall to said top wall.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means comprise flexible means interconnecting said top wall and said forward wall for pivotally attaching said forward wall to said top wall to enable an attendant to gain access to operate said imprinter and comprising detachable means for interconnecting said flexible means with said top wall for removably attaching said forward wall to said top wall to enable an attendant to gain access to operate said imprinter.

. 6. The combination asclaimed in claim 1 wherein said supporting means is a bottom wall seated on said cash stand and I on which is seated said imprinter.

7. The combination as claimed .in claim 6 wherein said bottom wall includes a forward segment and a rear segment.

8. The combination as claimed in claim 7 wherein said rear segment is formed with a slot to receive a clip for securing the rear end of said imprinter.

9. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein said forward segment is formed with an opening to receive anchoring means for anchoring the forward end of said imprinter.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 6 wherein said walls are formed with flanges at the lower ends thereof for engaging said cash stand to stabilize said enclosure on the cash stand. 

1. In combination: a. an outdoor cash stand; b. an imprinter on said cash stand; and c. an enclosure for protecting said imprinter on said outdoor cash stand from weather elements, such as rain, snow and the like, said enclosure comprising: a transparent top wall disposed above the imprinter a sufficient height to enable an attendant to operate the imprinter; walls depending from said top wall to support said top wall at said sufficient height; supporting means interconnecting said walls and said cash stand to support said enclosure on said cash stand; a forward wall for said enclosure; and means pivotally mounting said forward wall to enable an attendant to gain access to operate said imprinter.
 2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said forward wall is pivotally attached to said top wall.
 3. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said forward wall is flexible along the upper portion thereof for pivotal attachment to said top wall.
 4. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein means interconnect said top wall and said forward wall for removably attaching said forward wall to said top wall.
 5. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means comprise flexible means interconnecting said top wall and said forward wall for pivotally attaching said forward wall to said top wall to enable an attendant to gain access to operate said imprinter and comprising detachable means for interconnecting said flexible means with said top wall for removably attaching said forward wall to said top wall to enable an attendant to gain access to operate said imprinter.
 6. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said supporting means is a bottom wall seated on said cash stand and on which is seated said imprinter.
 7. The combination as claimed in claim 6 wherein said bottom wall includes a forward segment and a rear segment.
 8. The combination as claimed in claim 7 wherein said rear segment is formed with a slot to receive a clip for securing the rear end of said imprinter.
 9. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein said forward segment is formed with an opening to receive anchoring means for anchoring the forward end of said imprinter.
 10. The combination as claimed in claim 6 wherein said walls are formed with flanges at the lower ends thereof for engaging said cash stand to stabilize said enclosure on the cash stand. 